Samsung QD-OLED: Production starts in 3 sizes

According to media reports, things are getting serious at Samsung Display: After the final end for LCD production recently made the rounds, the future is now set for OLED. Series production of the large-format QD OLED panels is scheduled to start on November 30th. Apparently, the formats 65, 55, and 34 inches are planned. That makes sense if you look at the market. 65 inches is the mainstream movement and is set to become the top-selling size. However, 55 inches will remain important because the devices are a bit more manageable and can be produced very efficiently in 8.5G factories, while 65 inches is ideally produced on 10G mother glass. As a third format, Samsung has 34 inches on offer, which could pass as a monitor; the panel would tend to be too small for a TV. From a production point of view, the format is interesting because of the yield. A relatively good 28 panels can be accommodated on 10G mother glass. At 8.5G, they could be produced together alongside three 65-inch panels.

As for the yield, the boss of Samsung Display, Joo-Sun Choi, says that it has improved significantly. However, the only three formats offered make it clear that one should remain cautious. Competitor LG offers sizes between 43 and 83 inches and is supposed to expand the range to 42 to 97 inches in 2022. Samsung keeps the option of a 70-inch panel open for a later date. OLED with a different structure than LG

Samsung's technology works a little differently than LG's. While LG relies on four sub-pixels (RGB and white), Samsung relies on three blue pixels and generates red and green via a color filter, the Quantum-Dot-Layer, which marketing has baptized. Samsung promises a leap in costs due to the simpler structure, but also more color fidelity and brightness. It is difficult to say which of these is realistic. Marketing praised, among other things, the 1,000 candelas per square meter of peak brightness.

The market launch of the first devices via Samsung Electronics is expected in the second half of 2022. It is uncertain whether the products will be announced traditionally at CES. Samsung is definitely throwing itself into OLED production. The LCD factories are to be converted to Super AMOLED and produce small diagonals for smartphones, tablets, and notebooks. The large OLED panels are, surprisingly, also the future. Surprising because there was probably an internal battle in the group over the issue.

The South Koreans had once abandoned research on OLED and the marketing of Samsung Electronics had long underlined the disadvantages of the technology of competitor LG. Samsung Display then made a fresh attempt to market panels. Apparently, they didn't even want to use them in-house at first, which makes marketing difficult. Due to the financial pressure in the LCD segment and the lack of marketable alternatives, people are trying their luck again until micro-LED is potentially the replacement.